Upanishads · Mahā 5.50
॥
Devanāgarī
अजाग्रत्स्वप्ननिद्रस्य यत्ते रूपं सनातनम् अचेतनं चाजडं च तन्मयो भव सर्वदा
Transliteration (IAST)
ajāgratsvapnanidrasya yatte rūpaṃ sanātanam acetanaṃ cājaḍaṃ ca tanmayo bhava sarvadā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अजाग्रत्-स्वप्न-निद्रस्यajāgrat-svapna-nidrasyaof one who wakes not, dreams not, sleeps not; of him who is stranger to waking, dream and slumber
यत् ते रूपम् सनातनम्yat te rūpam sanātanamthat everlasting form of thine; what thy perpetual shape is
अचेतनम् च अजडम् चacetanam ca ajaḍam caboth non-conscious and non-inert; both unaware and unbenumbed
तन्मयः भव सर्वदाtanmayaḥ bhava sarvadābe made of that always; abide as it perpetually
Translation
“Thy everlasting form — that of one who neither wakes, nor dreams, nor sleeps — non-conscious and non-inert; be made of it always.”
Version
53a50b874aee · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second of the three refrain-verses, and in it stands one word that was not there before: te — “thy”.
sanātanaṃ rūpaṃ te — “thy everlasting form”.
That is, the speech is not of Brahman in general, but of what Nidāgha himself is when the three states are taken off him.
Note the pair acetanam ca ajaḍam ca — “non-conscious and non-inert”.
The first word denies consciousness in our sense — consciousness of something. The second denies the stone.
Between these two negations lies that which there is nothing to name.
Recall 2.6, where the Ātman is called “stone-like” and at once “conscious, for it shines”. Here the same pair, turned toward the man.
And the word rūpa — “form”. The everlasting has a form. The book uses this word calmly and makes no reservation.